Friday, August 24, 2007

Protecting the Bush Bubble

The Washington Post reports on a manual handed out in advance of George Bush's public appearances, to ensure that the Republican Beloved Leader is protected from dissent and to prevent the ugly reality from intruding on the White House's carefully stage-managed events:

A White House manual that came to light recently gives presidentialadvance staffers extensive instructions in the art of "deterringpotential protestors" from President Bush's public appearances aroundthe country.

Of course all members of the audience are carefully screened ahead of such events, as they should be; it is not inconceivable that someone might so actively dislike the Frat Boy President that they would try to hurt him, which would not only be wrong, wrong, wrong, but the ensuing backlash would actually help his party. So I'm not against tight security at public POTUS appearances. And that is also why I'm not surprised that prospective audience are mainly handpicked ticket-holders, i.e., loyal Bushies, and that placard-wielding hippie types are generally not admitted. But, as the WashPost continues:

that does not mean the White House is against dissent -- just solong as the president does not see it. In fact, the manual outlines aspecific system for those who disagree with the president to voice theirviews. It directs the White House advance staff to ask local police "todesignate a protest area where demonstrators can be placed, preferablynot in the view of the event site or motorcade route."

Adds a new twist to the ages-old cop cliche "Move on, there's nothing to see here." Also, the local event organizers are encouraged to set up Conformity Squads (my own label) to prevent any disruption, i.e. dissent:

To counter any demonstrators who do get in, advance teams are told tocreate "rally squads" of volunteers with large hand-held signs, placardsor banners with "favorable messages." Squads should be placed instrategic locations and "at least one squad should be 'roaming'throughout the perimeter of the event to look for potential problems,"the manual says.

However, as the immortal Robert Burns reminds us, even "The best-laid schemes o' mice an 'men / Gang aft agley". In a worst-case scenario where Islamofascistodefeatocrats have been able to insinuate themselves into a visible spot and are disseminating their heinous opinions, the White House manual recommends that the Conformity Squads move to Plan B:

"These squads should be instructed always to look for demonstrators," itsays. "The rally squad's task is to use their signs and banners asshields between the demonstrators and the main press platform. If thedemonstrators are yelling, rally squads can begin and lead supportivechants to drown out the protestors (USA!, USA!, USA!). As a last resort,security should remove the demonstrators from the event site."

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It looked like a high-handed proceeding; but it was really a case of legitimate self-defence. You can't breathe dead hippo waking, sleeping, and eating, and at the same time keep your precarious grip on existence.- J. Conrad